Staal is way overpaid IMO. I would put him in the range of 7.5-7.8, similar to Stamkos or Lecavalier. He might not produce as much but is a franchise player. Carolina saw Staal as their franchise player and is probably why they overpaid.

thing is Zach never said he would want to sign with a contender "now, he said that he wants to be competitive and have a shot at the cup

i mean seriously... i like how honnest Zach is but those articles are blowing this thing out of proportion...

name me a player who doesnt want money and win the cup ? seriously lol

I am pretty sure I saw early on that he said he wants to be competitive and have a shot at the cup

Isn't that the most preposterious thing you've ever exerienced, colin? It blows my mind that people are so stupid, but I guess that's life.

I've watched, played and now coached hockey for over 20 years. Kovy is a stud, period. Do I get frustrated when he misses the net on the PP and it leads to a breakaway the other way? Sure. Do I grit my teeth when he gives up on a play after making or receiving a sh!tty pass? Absolutely.

BUT. When he's on, he can be the best player in the building. Lemaire obviously made it clear that he needed to play more of a team game when he came here, and you can tell he's trying (and sometimes, fighting) it. These two morons in Sec 20 last game were yelling at him the whole game about how much he sucked...much to the chagrin of a man and his family next to them. When Kovy danced around that backcheck at full speed and put Patty's pass in the net for the 3-2 lead, the older man just looked at the two loud haters next to him and just shook his head. It was priceless.

The guy is an amazing player, no questions about it. If you cant see it, I'm sorry, but I cannot respect your ability to understand the game. His contract is a separate discussion all together...

Not to turn this into a Kovy thread but +1 and a standing ovation for this post

To me thats him saying already I am looking else where. Obviously this season is not going to end with the cup. Next season is also up in the air. This off season is going to need some major reconstruction. On the other hand money and the cup are obviously why all these players are here. They arent playing just to play and not work the night shift at BK. You can see the potential in this team.

Edited by Quinn01, 10 January 2012 - 10:38 AM.

0

Winner of the 2010-2011 Hobey Baker Award for Best Rookie Poster.Official Keeper of Martin Brodeur's Ending Powerplay Whistle & KOVALtine, the drink with the shelf life of 15 years.

Staal is way overpaid IMO. I would put him in the range of 7.5-7.8, similar to Stamkos or Lecavalier. He might not produce as much but is a franchise player. Carolina saw Staal as their franchise player and is probably why they overpaid.

Without a doubt, Staal is overpaid - espeically this year. However, that won't stop Parise from seeking similar numbers and receiving offers near that range.

I keep hearing that Detroit has lots of cap room this summer, and their owner is always willing to spend. If he leaves NJ, I think he signs there.

I can't see giving him any more than $8 million per season over 5-7 years. If he refuses that type of contract offer, they should trade him. What drives me crazy is Lou's stubborn refusal to negotiate with our players during the season and before their contract runs out. It's a stupid philosophy that costs the team more money to retain the player once they get to the open market (i.e. Elias) or, more often than not, leads to that player departing. If he continues to take this stance with Parise, he's as good as gone.

Also, there is no way Lou will trade Parise before the deadline if this team is either in a playoff spot or serious contention to make the playoffs. And then, come July, our best player and biggest asset will walk out the door for nothing.

Isn't that the most preposterious thing you've ever exerienced, colin? It blows my mind that people are so stupid, but I guess that's life.

I've watched, played and now coached hockey for over 20 years. Kovy is a stud, period. Do I get frustrated when he misses the net on the PP and it leads to a breakaway the other way? Sure. Do I grit my teeth when he gives up on a play after making or receiving a sh!tty pass? Absolutely.

BUT. When he's on, he can be the best player in the building. Lemaire obviously made it clear that he needed to play more of a team game when he came here, and you can tell he's trying (and sometimes, fighting) it. These two morons in Sec 20 last game were yelling at him the whole game about how much he sucked...much to the chagrin of a man and his family next to them. When Kovy danced around that backcheck at full speed and put Patty's pass in the net for the 3-2 lead, the older man just looked at the two loud haters next to him and just shook his head. It was priceless.

The guy is an amazing player, no questions about it. If you cant see it, I'm sorry, but I cannot respect your ability to understand the game. His contract is a separate discussion all together...

Kovy is your A-typical goal scorer- he's got a scorer's ego. He needs to have the puck and bury it. When that happens, his emotional well being skyrockets and so does the team's.

You're right, when he's ON, he's very difficult to contain. When he starts to miss, he gets down on himself...the key to Kovy is to make him feel good about playing and make him feel like he's gonna carry the team. Once that happens, and Kovy is on, watch out-

Єklund (2.3% accurate)
This comes amidst plenty of talk that Parise isn't thrilled with the current situation in NJ and hasn't been for some time. "Zach wants more playing time and to be the go to guy," a source said, "That has't happened since Kovalchuk arrived."

0

Bobby Holik wouldn't name a (Christmas) song. He said: "Music means nothing to me." When Tom Gulitti of the Record suggested he'd be called Scrooge, Holik said: "It won't be the first time." -Bobby Holik Christmas 2008

“I made a decision to be here. Just because the team is going through a rough time doesn’t mean you leave. This has become my second home. I love playing here. Patrik Elias January 31, 2011

This is as of right now and obviously things can and will change throughout the year, but thats the projected cap space of a few contenders come next offseason. There will be many players for Zach. Obviously a place like Minnesota or Toronto arent necessarily contenders, but they both are likely to call, as are the Isles. This also doesnt take into account the possibility of the cap going up or down + labor crap.

I think a good way to gauge who may be a player for him depends on the moves made at the trade deadline and/or draft.

The Devils are projected to have 24 million in space and we have 9 UFAs this coming offseason.

All this talk of cap hits is irrelevant, really. He could get a 12 year deal worth 60 million where he gets paid $12M in bonus money upon signing his contract. He could get a 5 year deal worth 45 million. He could get a 12 year deal worth 84 million. The way the money is structured is going to be much more important, ultimately, than the cap hit.

The question the Devils have to ask themselves is will Parise's game hold up when he is 35? That's an unanswerable question, but they have to be able to guess. Parise's shot rate is down this year but he's playing with Kovalchuk so I imagine that's natural. I wish DeBoer would separate them so we could see how Parise really is.

lol @ Parise wanting more playing time - Parise is getting 22 minutes a game. He's 3rd in the league among forwards. Any more playing time and he'll fall apart. If he goes somewhere else I bet he gets less ice time. Єklund (2.3% accurate) is the greatest.

this is EXACTLY the comp that I see Parise shooting for. That was an 8 year, $62.4MM deal ($7.8MM cap hit). It was an extension signed when he was 25 and not 27 as Zach is now but they are very similar players stats wise. I think you could conceivably get Parise to sign a bit less if you give him a monster signing bonus that pays before the lockout. To be honest, I'm torn about that kind of a contract. I mean, look, it's not our money and it's not a ridiculous overpayment. It's 12% of the teams available cap (assuming the same $64mm cap). If the cap continues to go up, then its really not an issue. And with if it goes down, there will be a roll back to compensate.

i think there is zero doubt that Parise gets this offer from at least 6 teams that he'd consider (CHI, DET, NYR, NJ, MIN, TOR). I'd think Philly would get involved too. I would expect the Islanders to offer him a ridiculous contract like 10/80 just to try and make a splash and pull at the heart strings of his dad's old club but that would be shocking if he took it. the playoffs are a crap shoot so really, all you can hope is to maximize your chances of getting there. I think Chicago is in the best position to offer that the most over the course of his career based on their current personnel.

_________________________________________________________________
“They’re the ones that makes it happen,” Lemaire said. “It’s not us. It’s not me. It’s not the other guy. It’s not the guy before. It’s not the guy after. It’s them. And they have to take care of business.”
-
"I guess I just miss my friend" (#28)

Of note, of the top 4 paid guys, 3 of them are centers. And Ovechkin just has a ridiculous deal. I think in terms of relative comparisons, the Parise camp will probably have their best argument in the 7.8 million range.

That having been said, paying Zach 7.8 might be hard to swing with the given make-up of the team. Meaning that if we could invest that (wisely) in the back-end, it might pay off better. I think Tri once noted tho that there are only about 7 D in the whole league who deserve very big money, and those guys are rarely available (Chara and co.).

You don't want to just throw money at a position. But we do need a game changer on the back end like Weber.

Still, when you look at the forwards and realize Patty only has 1 more year left on his 6M deal, if he decides to retire or come back at a discounted rate, it's not so crazy to think Parise & Kovy will be the foundation of our forwards for years to come.

For my money, I love Parise, and I think NJ will try its best to retain him. If not, at least we have 8 million to play with.

If a deal can't be worked out, I'd probably try to trade Parise/Larsson to Nashville for Lindback and Weber. I know it's sacrilege to trade a #3 pick--but that might be an attractive package for a team like Nashville to build around, since Weber is RFA and who knows how long he'll stick around after. Weber heading our D, Lindback in goal, and Kovy, Henrique, Zajac, etc up front... that might look like a good team.

Єklund (2.3% accurate)This comes amidst plenty of talk that Parise isn't thrilled with the current situation in NJ and hasn't been for some time. "Zach wants more playing time and to be the go to guy," a source said, "That has't happened since Kovalchuk arrived."

We dont need Єklund to tell us that. Its quite obvious.

0

Winner of the 2010-2011 Hobey Baker Award for Best Rookie Poster.Official Keeper of Martin Brodeur's Ending Powerplay Whistle & KOVALtine, the drink with the shelf life of 15 years.

Of note, of the top 4 paid guys, 3 of them are centers. And Ovechkin just has a ridiculous deal. I think in terms of relative comparisons, the Parise camp will probably have their best argument in the 7.8 million range.

That having been said, paying Zach 7.8 might be hard to swing with the given make-up of the team. Meaning that if we could invest that (wisely) in the back-end, it might pay off better. I think Tri once noted tho that there are only about 7 D in the whole league who deserve very big money, and those guys are rarely available (Chara and co.).

You don't want to just throw money at a position. But we do need a game changer on the back end like Weber.

Still, when you look at the forwards and realize Patty only has 1 more year left on his 6M deal, if he decides to retire or come back at a discounted rate, it's not so crazy to think Parise & Kovy will be the foundation of our forwards for years to come.

For my money, I love Parise, and I think NJ will try its best to retain him. If not, at least we have 8 million to play with.

If a deal can't be worked out, I'd probably try to trade Parise/Larsson to Nashville for Lindback and Weber. I know it's sacrilege to trade a #3 pick--but that might be an attractive package for a team like Nashville to build around, since Weber is RFA and who knows how long he'll stick around after. Weber heading our D, Lindback in goal, and Kovy, Henrique, Zajac, etc up front... that might look like a good team.

Except Weber goes RFA after this season and there's no guarantee he stays. So now you're out Larsson, Parise and Weber. Big loss for a team whose D is already pretty fragile.